Boy’s testimony called key to convicting man of fondling

YARMOUTH — Tears filled the eyes of a Yarmouth woman after a one-time summer camp counsellor was convicted in provincial court here Tuesday of fondling her nephew.

The woman praised the boy for bravely testifying from behind a screen about the “gross” abuse he sustained at the hands of Mason Joel Davidson, 23, of Forest Hill, Kings County.

The former child-care worker and summer camp staffer testified that he enjoyed reading to kids who piled onto his bed at a Yarmouth County summer camp.

But it was the lucid testimony of a 12-year-old boy that helped seal the fate of the ex-child-care worker, who, according to the court, had some bizarre ideas.

Davidson was found guilty of fondling the boy, then 10, in 2011.

The accused sat stone-faced, arms crossed on his chest.

The crime was committed during what was to have been a fun-filled week beginning July 31, 2011, at Camp Peniel, a Christian summer camp operated by the Yarmouth County Association of Baptist Churches.

Davidson maintained his innocence and said he thought there was nothing wrong with being part of a bed full of kids.

“Indeed, his perception and his actions … are bizarre for someone trained in modern childhood education,” said Judge Robert Prince.

Davidson had worked at a Yarmouth daycare centre and a Yarmouth elementary school as well as two Christian summer camps, court was told.

And in trial evidence last month, Camp Peniel’s executive director, Christine Long, testified that cabin leaders’ beds are in an area where children are never permitted and that the importance of not being alone with a child is stressed.

She said camp staff undergo extensive training and must sign policy documents stating they understand what is and is not permitted.

Davidson said the kids in his cabin would sit on his bed and that he did not think there was anything wrong with that. But he never told his supervising camp managers about the practice.

“It is odd that he would ignore the policy imposed by the camp and supplant his own,” said the judge.

Prince said he also noted significant differences in what the accused said about his limited training and what the camp administration said was the standard training.

“Some of his evidence just doesn’t make sense,” Prince said.

It was not until June of this year when the young victim was asked why he did not want to return to summer camp that the case first came to light.

The boy seemed to be embarrassed talking about it and was attempting to hold back tears, said a Crown witness who first spoke with the boy.

The summer before, in 2011, the boy had been a camper in a cabin at Camp Peniel on the shores of Cedar Lake.

During trial last month, the boy, now 12, testified about how he was on Davidson’s bed in the cabin, reading, and how the only light was from Davidson’s flashlight.

He said Davidson touched his arm and legs, his buttocks and finally his genitals where his hand seemed to stop.

The boy testified how it felt “right gross.”

He then told the accused he wanted to return to his own bunk and Davidson did not stop him.

Davidson testified that he never read alone to any child or touched any child for a sexual purpose.

But in the end it was the 12-year-old boy’s testimony that carried the day. The boy was intelligent and his testimony was accurate on the central points and recounted events in significant detail, said the judge.

“He was measured and precise and stable and there’s no suggestion of any acrimony,” Prince added.

Davidson returns to court Feb 12, 2013, to be sentenced.

Until then, he must stay away from playgrounds, schools, and places where children may be.

Davidson lives with his parents in Kings County and must report weekly to New Minas RCMP, according to court records.

Davidson also faces another trial in Nova Scotia provincial court on Feb 18, on a charge of exposing himself to a child in 2012, in an unrelated case.